Friday, April 29, 2011

I'm approaching this question from a U.S. student and programming perspective.I don't know the answer but I suspect yes.The folks that can best track study abroadinterest to the UK are those at GoAbroad.com, StudyAbroad.com and IIEPassport(anyone want to share traffic data to London & other UK programs?).The folks that can best track study abroad participation are those at IIE compiling Open Doors data.We shall see...

As I was searching Twitter during lunch for my daily "Study abroad related tweet of the day" I came across many tweets from students who were talking about studying in England and London and this got me thinking about the question.The Amanda Knox situation has had an impact on study abroad interest to Italy which makes me wonder what impact the Royal Wedding will have on U.S. student interest on studying in London.So I thought it would be interesting to conduct a brief search through Twitter and to copy and paste any posts related to studying abroad in the United Kingdom and they follow:

Dreaming about London on this special day... Can't wait to be there for Fall semester 2011!!! @royalwedding #London #fb#studyabroad

Why Prince William and Catherine Middleton Should Inspire All Students http://ow.ly/4JFor #StudyAbroad #GlobalEd #IntlEd

Just saw Peter Alexander on @Todayinterviewing #studyabroad students for their reaction at the#royalwedding!"

I have decided in order to go to London this fall, I need to purchase a royally perfect hat. #royalwedding #studyabroad

Shove me in a suitcase and send me to Oxford, already. The anticipation is killin' me. #excited #england #studyabroad #yay

What a coincidence that I get an email about applying to studyabroad in England...

i WILL study abroad in london, and i WILL meet prince harry, and i WILL be the next princess. #dreams

Close to dropping everything and running off to London. The things that Study Abroad meetings will do to you..

Are there any princes left in the world? Because listen ima studyabroad, meet one, and have my own royal wedding. Okay.

Did any UK study abroad students make it to the Royal Wedding? Feel free to post photos!

I wana study abroad in England.

when I study abroad I will meet a royal and get married #obsessed

My dad called me at 6:12 am to tell me to study abroad to meet and marry prince harry...

Oh! I want to study abroad in UK. Fighting for my dream come true. First step study English language now!!!

Can't wait to study abroad aka hit up London and have #princeharryfall in love with me. #itwillhappen

I'm going to study abroad in London and then stay there to become apart of the royal family. Do you approve, though?

I am strategically planning my study abroad in college to coincide with Prince Harry's wedding.

Of special note: This snapshot of Twitter posts related to study abroad and the United Kingdom was conducted at 12:30pm Chicago time which was several hours after the Royal Wedding coverage concluded. It would have been interesting to see related posts during the live coverage.

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Following is a message my colleague Missy Gluckman of Melibee Global sent yesterday to the SECUSS-L listserv. I'm copying and pasting the message here on IHEC Blog as I'm involved in this new initiative. I should note that Missy is the driving force behind this effort and she deserves all of the credit as I'm really just coming along for the ride. Many many thanks Missy!! I'll be posting more soon about what Missy is doing for the field as it is really exciting. Visit her website and blog at http://melibeeglobal.com/ when you have a chance. Here is our message:

Friday, April 22, 2011

From time to time I receive some Spammy wall posts over on IHEC Blog's Facebook page (and a bunch here on IHEC Blog but I moderate comments so it's not too problematic). Last night someone posted to the following to IHEC Blog's Facebook page and I'm trying to determine if it is Spam. I think it is and I think most of the 569 followers would agree. However, the content relates to what I post in this new media space so part of me thinks to let it stay. What are your thoughts?

Thursday, April 21, 2011

The United States Institute of Peace will be hosting a free webcast focusing on the revitalization of international educational exchanges as a core pillar of public diplomacy.Those in Washington, D.C. can register to attend in person of course. The following snippet is a description with agenda of the webcast:

"The orientation of U.S. public diplomacy is changing from telling America’s story to direct dialogue in an interconnected world. With this shift has come a need to revitalize a core pillar of public diplomacy strategy: international exchanges. Although traditional exchange programs have been effective in expanding access to cross-cultural educational opportunities beyond those that study-abroad programs reach, participation remains limited. Developing the next generation of Exchange 2.0 initiatives—that is, technology-enabled programs embedded in curricula and with a cross-cultural educational purpose—will improve the number, diversity, and experience of international exchange participants." You can read more here.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

I've posted on IHEC Blog in the past about the exposure my daughter (and son) is getting in her school this academic year to countries, cultures and issues across the globe (see links below). This exposure is not new as it has been happening since she entered the Nursery school. My son is in Kindergarten and in his three years at the school he has learned about such things as Diwali and had Greek celebrations in his classroom.

This morning her class will learn how to make lanterns and in the afternoon they will watch a traditional theatrical performance of Utsushi-e, a classical style of theater that uses lanterns and puppetry!

More on this event today and additional performances this week through Saturday are available here.

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Is it possible to describe what international education is in 134 characters on Twitter? Why 134 characters? Well, Twitter allows 140 character posts but am accounting for the 5 character #IEis hashtag and a space. If you use the #IEis hashtag everyone will be able to see what others have to say and I can go back, collect and summarize here on IHEC Blog at a later date (assuming this little experiment produces some tweets).

Monday, April 18, 2011

At my daughter's school the 3rd and 4th grades all worked together to fold 1,000 Origami Cranes of Hope to sell at the school to benefit the Red Cross in Japan. The school children raised $5,061.50. The following link is to a video showing a small fraction of the 1,000+ wishes collected from their Cranes of Hope For Japan Relief fundraiser. One of the student's father will deliver the messages of hope to an elementary school affected by the Quake/Tsunami.

I am proud of all of the children and my daughter for taking on the task of learning to fold Origami Cranes (not an easy task!) and for going to school early two days to fold cranes!

Update 4-20-11: There were 720 cranes left over from the sales which were then donated to the high school effort that partnered with a company and they received $2 for every crane which added an additional $1,440 to the total donation!

Friday, April 15, 2011

This week the United States Department of State celebrated the achievements during the first year of the Consultation on People-to-People Exchange between the United States and China. I wanted to post a bit about this this week but given my family move to a new house and no internet connection at home that has proved difficult. I did want to post about the various videos and transcripts available for you to link to when you have some free time.

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Lend a hand to an organization that promotes and makes possible study abroad for low income high school students in the Chicago area!

Oak Park Apartments (Chicago area) have included the Farther Foundation on a list of their 20 favorite charities. This is great because they are donating $2,025 to the top vote getting charity each month for six months to celebrate their 25th year.

Farther Foundation needs your votes to win!

Take 10 seconds to visit www.oakparkapartments.com and vote for Farther Foundation. There is no registration required, no names, numbers or email addresses collected.

It will also be some time before I have internet access at home so this may be a bit of an extended vacation from blogging! I imagine that I will do some posts to Twitter and IHEC Blog's Facebook page via my handheld! Hasta Pronto!

Thursday, April 7, 2011

I came across the following video produced by an international student for a class project at Youngstown State University via a colleague's Facebook page. I thought I would post it here to IHEC Blog as I think many readers will really like it. Includes video interview snippet with colleague Jef Davis!

A description via the workshop website follows: “This program will be of interest to college and university counsel responsible for legal issues related to study abroad and other overseas programs. The campus administrators who may benefit from the program include study abroad coordinators, senior administrators with line responsibility for international programs, managers of international and study abroad programs, campus risk managers, human resources administrators, business affairs managers, and other academic administrators with responsibility for overseas programs. After reviewing the program schedule, members may wish to consider inviting these or other administrators on their campus to join them for the program.”

Workshop and registration information is available here and a more detailed schedule of the day long workshop is available here.

To that end, I have added a Twitter search widget to this post so one can follow the discussion from and about the conference and hoping that those in attendance are able to post some photos and maybe a video or more to Twitter! I wish all conference attendees a safe and productive conference!

According to the website "this will be an intensive institute focusing on how to internationalize curriculum and campuses. It will highlight contemporary global and area studies, global learning objectives, innovative pedagogical and technological techniques, institutional change and strategic plans, course design, and assessment."

Monday, April 4, 2011

Last week during a meeting I was attending a colleague brought up the concept of a "study abroad credential" which of course peaked my interest! My colleague was wondering out loud how long a study abroad program must be for it to be meaningful in the job market. My colleague continued to wonder if a short-term program [length not defined] sets one apart from those who did not study abroad. Great questions in my mind!

There have been debates on short-term programs vs. semester/year long programs in the field as long as I can remember. There has even been some discussion/comment on the value of short-term programs [the value of a 2 week program] over on IHEC Blog's Facebook page in regards to a "Study abroad related tweet of the day" that I posted.

Thinking beyond the individual outcomes and value of a short-term study abroad program...do employers value short-term study abroad programs? At what length of time studying/working abroad [in weeks or months] does a study abroad program become meaningful for employers?

Friday, April 1, 2011

Announcements by Office of Postsecondary Education, Department of Education in the Federal Register that may be of interest to IHEC Blog readers:

International and Foreign Language Education Service (IFLE): Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) - Special Focus Competition: Program for North American Mobility in Higher Education

International and Foreign Language Education Service (IFLE): Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) - Special Focus Competition: United States (U.S.)-Brazil Higher Education Consortia Program

International Higher Education Consulting Blog provides timely news and informational pieces, predominately from a U.S. perspective, that are of interest to both the international education and public diplomacy communities. From time to time, International Higher Education Consulting Blog will post thought provoking pieces to challenge readers and to encourage comment and professional dialogue.

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I currently work as the Assistant Provost for Global Education at Columbia College Chicago. Prior to my position at Columbia College, I worked for seventeen years as Associate Director of International Programs at the Booth School of Business, as Senior Adviser
for International Initiatives in The College and as Assistant Director in the
Office of International Affairs, all at The University of Chicago. I also serve as a Study Abroad Research Consultant for the Center for Global Education at California State University at Dominguez Hills. Additionally, I have taught online for The George Washington University Graduate School of Education and Human Development.

I received my B.A. in Spanish and Latin American
Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, my M.S. in
Family Science from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and my Ph.D. in Cultural and Educational Policy Studies, Comparative and International Education from Loyola University Chicago.

The opinions expressed are my own, and they do not
necessarily represent the views or opinions of my employer.